Bavouzet establishes his credentials immediately with a gripping account of Horowitz’s ‘edition’ of the Third Sonata, which climaxes in a moto perpetuo finale that the Frenchman somehow manages to inflect with washes of textural colour…without losing an urgent sense of forward momentum…Bavouzet brings [the later works] to life here with a radiant energy that utterly refutes the notion that Schumann’s creative powers were by now fast waning.

It’s all too easy for the sonata to sound so extreme that it becomes bitty, but Bavouzet gives it an overall sweep that is absolutely engaging…the Frenchman knows exactly what he is doing: the finale is a masterclass in precision and clarity, even at speed, its more lyrical writing brought fully alive.

The impassioned opening to the Third Sonata sets the stall for this outstanding Schumann recital. Faschingsschwank aus Wien has much life to it, Bavouzet relishing those sudden turns so characteristic of Schumann, contrasting with the splendidly enigmatic late Fantasiestücke Op 111. [Op. 133] Bavouzet’s tormented interpretation seems to strive constantly for an elusive, renewed vigour. Bavouzet, at the top of his game, remains a force to be reckoned with.

The final bar of the last of the rarely-heard Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of Dawn) is one of elevated artistry